DRM is designed to place restrictions on the way you view your content. Our quick guide shows you how to remove DRM from content, while looking at where the law stands around the issue.

DRM (Digital rights management) has become an industry standard across streaming platforms. It’s there to help protect content from being stolen and distributed, but can also cause legitimate users problems too.

DRM puts additional code into media files that implements a variety of restrictions, anything from how many devices they can be viewed on, to how many times they can be viewed. The exact function differs depending on the distributor of the content but they are all geared to remove control of the content from the hands of the user, and put it into the hands of a computer system instead.

These additions can often cause problems with playback or can sometimes inhibit you from watching content on your phone or tablet, depending on what the original source is. You’re legally allowed to make copies of content if they are for personal use, and we’re going to use Audials Tunebite 2018 Platinum to show you how.

How to remove DRM

Get yourself a copy of Audials Tunebite 2018. This is a cheap and easy to use program that will allow you to record streams in a huge variety of formats, for a large number of devices. If you find yourself struggling with DRM a lot then this software will be invaluable.

Download it onto your PC and start it up. The program provides step-by-step instruction on how to get the most out of it, with tailored guides for recording content from Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Youtube and more.

You can select the output format you desire to match the device you’d like to watch/listen to the media on – and the software will record the stream, output the file and even name it correctly. All you have to do then is move it to your device and you’re done.

Is it legal?

DRM removal is not illegal in the UK, as there is no specific law against it.

A law was passed back in 2014 which allows us to make personal copies of CDs and DVDs for personal use, and Europe’s Highest Court has said that DRM circumvention may be lawful in certain circumstances.

While to some extent this still remains a grey area, if you’re removing DRM so you can watch the content you’ve paid for at another time or on another device, there will almost certainly be no issue.

However, if you’re removing DRM so you can distribute the latest Netflix show to other people and charge them for it, the authorities would certainly take issue with that.

As long as you're sensible and are using it to create personal copies for yourself, you shouldn't run into any trouble on the legal side of things.